Her Graceful War Song novel Chapter 1127

The next day, when Zoey arrived with her son, Cedric Prince, in tow, she mentioned the annual salary she intended to offer Travis—three hundred silver coins.

Travis was fond of money, but even he knew he wasn't worth that much. He immediately tried to refuse.

"No, that's far too much. Sixty silver coins a year is already more than enough. Three hundred is too generous, and I wouldn't feel right accepting it."

No matter how Zoey insisted, he refused to take three hundred silver coins and stood firm on his demand for just sixty silver coins a year.

Zoey turned to Carissa, silently pleading for help in convincing him.

Carissa smiled warmly. "Sixty silver coins it is, then. Listen to Mr. Mullen. Whether it's sixty or three hundred, the teaching will be the same. This way, he won't have such a heavy burden on his conscience."

Since Carissa had said so, Zoey could only express her deep gratitude. Whether it was for schooling or learning skills, Zoey had no objections to spending money—so long as it was within her means.

On the other hand, Travis thought that five silver coins a month were already quite a lot. Many common folks didn't even earn that much in an entire year.

Furthermore, he was merely offering guidance, not giving full lessons. After all, Cedric was already in his teenage years. It was a bit late for him to start learning martial arts, so his progress might not be remarkable.

As Zoey had said, Cedric was indeed diligent and well-behaved. Zoey had raised him well—he was polite, knew how to read the room, and called Travis "Sage Mullen". Cedric used Travis' surname as it wasn't an official apprenticeship, and he also showed him the same respect one would expect of a true apprentice. He didn't show the arrogance one might expect from a noble's son.

On the first day Cedric trained with Travis, he only practiced basic physical conditioning.

In his youth, Cedric had practiced some martial arts, though his skills were disorganized and lacked any real foundation. He had no illusions about the difficulty of learning martial arts, so he steeled himself for the hard work ahead. No matter how challenging Travis' training was, he gritted his teeth and never complained.

Carissa sat nearby, sipping on coffee and watching.

The young man had a slender build and the appearance of a frail scholar, with features resembling his mother—gentle yet with an unmistakable air of determination.

Oliver likely wasn't plotting to rebel—he didn't have the power to command the Hell Monarch Army or the Sinclair Army. But even without raising an army, a few well-placed moves could cause significant damage.

"What do you think of Marshal Prince?" Carissa asked.

Rafael thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. He's not exactly evil, but he's far from good. He's not a fool—he has his moments of cleverness. But his flaws are many, and there are two that are particularly dangerous: his greed for power and his love for women. It's not that he has no loyalty to his country, but when it comes to personal gain or a beautiful woman, his sense of duty means nothing."

Carissa sighed. "It must be hard for Madam Zoey."

"It is," Rafael agreed with a nod, then glanced at her and added, "Especially now that her youngest sister-in-law has returned home, causing a stir about divorce."

Carissa had heard of it but hadn't paid much attention. Now that it was mentioned, she wasn't particularly interested.

"I see. Well, best not to concern ourselves with others' business," she said.